My youngest is nowhere near this age yet, but just looking towards the future. At what age would you let a child stay home for a short time — say a quick run to the supermarket?
At what age would you let a child stay home while you went out for the evening?
Depends upon the maturity level of the child & on the comfort level that child has being alone.
Just to start the discussion, I’ll suggest the age of fourteen (14).
Recalling my childhood, it may also depend upon the number of & availability of nearby fire extinguishers.
We left DD alone at 11, but for very quick trips (like DH following me to the mechanics to drop off my car and immediately going home, or a quick trip to Target or Home Depot to pick up something we preordered online - gone 15 minute max). It grew from there. Eleven was actually late compared to some of her friends and other kids in her class at that time. She is now 14 and stays alone 3.5-4 hours at a time, and it could easily be longer except at some point its healthier to be out and about. She is very responsible.
For an evening out: 15 minus their birth order (14 for the first, 13 for the second, etc) on the basis that you worry about it less as time goes on. Probably not a good rule if you have 6 kids though 
My D stayed home all day, every day, the summer after 6th grade when she was 12. I worked 8 minutes away and went home for lunch every day. She was content to stay indoors and read or watch TV. I did not, however, leave her younger brother with her–he went to daycare. Part of the reason for leaving her home was economics and part that I was not thrilled with the girls she was hanging out with at daycare. I did not leave them home at night until later, though.
I’d say around 11, depending on the level of maturity.
I was babysitting other people’s kids by the time I was 11.
Most girls here babysit at age 13 or 14.
These are the guidelines our county recommends.
There must be no emotional, medical or behavioral problems that affect their judgement or decision-making skills.
The child must be comfortable being alone.
You and your child should have a safety plan worked out, which includes: How to get in touch with you or other responsible adults at all times (including knowing the parent/caretaker’s whereabouts and having a telephone number where you can be reached).
What to do in case of emergency.
Guidelines for acceptable behavior.
Knowledge of emergency telephone numbers.
Your child must demonstrate the ability to follow the safety plan and to make decisions that reflect concern for personal safe
7 years and under:
Should not be left alone for any period of time. This may include leaving children unattended in cars, playgrounds and backyards.
8 to 10 years:
Should not be left alone for more than 1½ hours and only during daylight and early evening hours.
11 to 12 years:
May be left alone for up to 3 hours but not late at night or in circumstances requiring inappropriate responsibility.
13 to 15 years:
May be left unsupervised, but not overnight.
16 to 17 years:
May be left unsupervised (in some cases, for up to two consecutive overnight periods).
I believe the Red Cross babysitting course is available to sixth graders. So…that’s the grade I would say is old enough to leave a kid home alone. I mean…if they are old enough for babysitting course…they should be old enough to stay home alone.
Depends on the maturity of the child, time of day, availability of neighbors to assist if needed, neighborhood, etc.
My sons are almost 5 years apart. In one of my more naive moments, I thought it was sweet that they were happy to have “bro time” together, letting DH and I finally go out to an adult dinner or other evenings out when the oldest was around 13/14, youngest was 8/9. We’re friends with the neighbors who also offered to keep an eye out or assist as needed. Didn’t take long for me to figure out that they valued alone time as Super Fun Experiment Try Things Mom Would Kill Us For If She Knew Time.
Boys… Sigh.
You have to check your local ordinances. JME.
@milee30 I have daughters, and had a similar experience when leaving them together at about that age. So, “Kids… sigh” might be more appropriate. 
I remember babysitting other people’s kids and babies when I was 12 years old. I’m not sure what age our kids were when we first left them without a sitter but they begged to be left instead of having a sitter from the time S was around 12 or so and D 2 years younger.
They were very responsible and left everything very neat. Our D was sort of watching a slightly younger neighbor when she was 10ish and the friend a year younger, knowing I was 4 houses away.
My sister wanted us to babysit her 13 year old S, who is an only child. I told her we’d gladlt do so but would be out of town and I raised the issue as to whether at his age he needed a sitter. He seems very responsible to me. She thanked me for raising the issue—not sure what she ultimately decided.
I would say age ten minimum to be home alone for a little while. It really depends on the maturity of the kid in question too.
I agree it depends upon the kid. I know I was left alone for an hour or two when I was five. Kindergarten got out earlier than the other grades and both my parents were teachers. I knew there were neighbors I could go to if I had problems. I never did. I loved my alone time!
Our kids are all within 4 years of each other (oldest is 3.5 years older than youngest - with middle in the middle). We were leaving them alone (together) by the time oldest was 13 because I have photos of hubby and I going away for a long weekend (2 full days away and 2 partial days) and I know we left them home alone to watch our farm and critters. They did a great job. The worst thing about it is they’re all boys and no one was there to remind them to shower… Otherwise they kept the critters fed and the house going without any other problem at all. It’s not like those chores were new to them, of course. We do them daily. It was routine.
They were left alone for shorter periods of time (but not a full day) prior to that if we were working or went out shopping or to dinner. I just don’t remember when we started.
Now that they are post college, they love that we trusted them. They loved it then too, of course (so whether one can do it or not depends upon the kid - some would likely detest it). Mine they tell fond stories of it now (and nothing dangerous).
Personally, I think it’s good to bring kids up as full members of the family - pulling their own weight as they are able - and trusting them from as young as possible. I have pictures of ours doing real farm chores at age 4 - not dangerous chores, of course, but nonetheless, real chores (taking care of chickens, weeding and picking parts of the garden, etc). There were some things they could do alone and others where they worked alongside us. As they got older, they could do most alone.
Our attitude on that is one of the reasons I think ours have developed into great “get it done” adults. We didn’t think of it going “in” to parenting, of course. We just live on a farm and needed the help (not to mention, that’s how we were raised - helping from as young as we can remember). We lucked out that it also developed a great work ethic in our lads. They know whether something gets done or not is up to them and people are counting on them.
ps I also know it’s not the ONLY way kids can develop a great work ethic… I see the results of multiple styles of parenting at school. That said, I have NO regrets about how we raised ours in this aspect.
I’m not fond of the 1st World way of extending childhood TBH. I think kids need to fall once in a while when they are young so they can learn from it. I think work ethic is easier when developed young. I’m glad we live in an area where a form of free ranging kids is still accepted (and no one cares if it’s actually legal or not).
I think it depends on maturity of the child, if their are younger siblings, and the location. We lived in a very safe, low crime neighborhood, and would go leave our daughter to go next door to the neighbor’s house for a short time when she was 8/9. She kept a phone with her and we would go check in every 30 minutes or so. At age 11 she had taken the red cross baby sitting course and we would leave her alone to run errands. By 13 we were comfortable going out for dinner and leaving her home alone. My daughter did her first overnight alone in the house at 16 but all the neighbors knew we were gone and kept an eye out for her.
The first time I left our twin Ds alone to run an errand was shortly after their 11th birthday. As I exited the car ten minutes later my cell phone rang. They were excited and a little scared - apparently it felt like a small airplane had hit the house or something, and they weren’t sure what to do. They had left the house from the front door but couldn’t see anything unusual. I raced home without actually going into the bank, not sure what I’d find. It turned out that there was an earthquake in VA that rattled the east coast, including our PA home.
I was almost 50 years old and had never experienced an earthquake. And since I was driving at the time, I didn’t notice that one either (I did get my chance during a smaller one last year). In any case, I decided that the quake wasn’t an omen or warning that I shouldn’t have left them alone. I even went right back to the bank without so much as an aftershock, and we gave our kids gradually increasing independence from that point forward.
I think we started leaving the kids alone when they were ten. Never had any problems.
Also, I distinguish “alone” from “alone with the family dog”–which could make things go either way as I have known some very mischievous dogs ( like Clyde who brought home the neighbors’ Thanksgiving turkey which had been set outside on a table during very mild weather. Clyde got paw printed by the local police on more than one occasion as the local police were more understanding than the neighbors.) Tough to get mad at a Golden Retriever, but maybe not the best babysitter.
I was a latchkey child at 8-1/2, but that was the old 11